Is my golden pregnant?

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I have a golden retriever who will be 5 tomorrow. She was artificially insemenated on the 18th and 22nd April 2009 which was her 10th and 14th day. She lost her appetite within a few weeks and never really got it back. Ultrasound was done at 28 days of first mating but vet said it was too early. He could see 2 sacks but nothing in them. She sleeps all day and refuses to go out for walks. She behaves like a 10 year old dog. The only way to make her eat is to mix soft cat food with her dryfood. Now though that does not even work. She urinates more frequently and her nipples have become slightly bigger and when stroked on her belly they go hard and puffed up. Vet told me this week she can't feel any puppies but since saturday she has been getting clear mucus while sleeping and when I check her and it has dried it feel like dried up eggwhites. Oddly enough she has gained weight but no puppies can be felt. I am almost in tears with not knowing since this is something I really wanted. Even one puppy would be enough. I just wanted her to have a friend and an offspring of her beautiful character.
Please advise or extinquis my hopes.
Regards,
Vivi

ANSWER: Hi. It's really hard to say. Dogs do experience what's called a false pregnancy. The clear mucus may be the mucus plug. Just because the vet can't feel any puppies, doesn't mean there aren't any. You have to be pretty skilled to feel them, and if she's having a small litter, they may not be easily felt. I would still treat her as if she is pregnant, and have an x-ray done after day 50. This will tell you for sure if she is or isn't. I would wait til day 54 from the first breeding to have it done. I wish I could give you a definite answer, but it's so hard to say over the internet. The best advice I can give is to have those x-rays done, or just wait her out. Good luck, and please let me know if I can help with anything else.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,
Thank you for your quick reply.

Actually I took my golden to a different vet today because of the amount of mucus she has. It seems to be increasing and it was worrying us quite a bit.

The new vet examined her for quite a while but said he could not feel any puppies and this is on the day she would have been due with her first mating. He did not seem very hopeful.
He also mentioned the fact that her vulva does not seem swollen which indicates for sure that she is not pregnant.

It was heartbreaking to hear and we are all very upset with this news. We are now looking into trying again using ovulation pads but have quite a wait since our golden for some reason only comes on heat once a year.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,
Vivi

Answer
Hi. I would've done the x-ray, just to know for sure. That is the only way you're going to know 100% for sure. If there are only one or two in there, they may be hard to feel. Also, I wouldn't use the not swollen vulva as a positive indicator that she's not. Many times a dog's vulva will stay slightly swollen if she is pregnant, but I have seen dogs who do not stay swollen, so it's not 100%. You can always do progesterone testing with her next heat. It can get expensive, and the vet really has to know what's he's doing, but it will tell you when she's due to ovulate. Have you had her thyroid checked? I would also consider that, especially at her age. A thyroid that's not working properly can mess with fertility.